The present invention relates to an electronic jump rope that allows a user, such as a child, to play music, such as beat tracks, or sound segments or effects as the child jumps rope.
Some electronic toys have been designed to allow a user to listen to music while performing physical activities associated with the electronic toys. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,947 to Tomlinson, et al. discloses a musical jump rope having a sound circuit that can play a number of songs, which the user selects between through the use of a switch. The songs may be played at three different rates, wherein two of the rates depend on the rotation speed of the jump rope (i.e., how fast the user is jumping rope) and one of the rates is independent of the rotation speed of the jump rope. The two rates that depend on the rotation speed of the jump rope play the music at one and two beats per rotation of the jump rope, respectively.
A second example of such an electronic toy is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,433 to Vaisnys, et al., which discloses a musical toy hoop that plays music when the hoop is used. The rate at which the hoop plays music can be increased or decreased by the user. Vaisnys, et al. further discloses that the hoop may be provided with a motion detector to sense when the hoop is not being used so that the music may be stopped.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to an electronic jump rope having a first handle, a second handle, a flexible element connected between the first and second handles, a first switch disposed in one of the first and second handles, a second switch disposed in one of the first and second handles, a speaker disposed in one of the first and second handles and a sound generator operatively coupled to the first and second switches and the speaker, the sound generator including a memory, a processor and an input/output circuit disposed in one of the first and second handles, the sound generator being programmed to cause the speaker to play a musical beat track when the first switch is actuated and programmed to cause the speaker to play a sound segment simultaneously with the musical beat track when the second switch is actuated so that each actuation of the second switch causes the speaker to audibly superimpose the sound segment over the musical beat track so that both the sound segment and the musical beat track are simultaneously audible.
The second switch may be a switch operable in a first position and in a second position, wherein the sound generator may be programmed to cause the speaker to play a first sound segment when the second switch is actuated to the first position and to cause the speaker to play a second sound segment when the second switch is actuated to the second position.
The sound generator may be programmed with seven musical beat tracks. Each of the seven musical beat tracks may have two sound segments associated therewith.
The electronic jump rope may also include a motion switch disposed in one of the first and second handles and adapted to sense motion of one of the first and second handles, wherein the sound generator may be programmed to cause the speaker to repeatedly play the musical beat track so long as the motion switch senses motion of one of the first and second handles.
In a second aspect, the invention is directed to an electronic jump rope having a first handle, a second handle, a flexible element connected between the first and second handles, a switch disposed in one of the first and second handles, a speaker disposed in one of the first and second handles and a sound generator including a processor, a memory and an input/output circuit disposed in one of the first and second handles and operatively coupled to the switch and the speaker, the sound generator causing the speaker to begin playing a sound effect having a duration of less than three seconds upon each depression of the switch, the sound effect being played independent of movement of the flexible element.
In a third aspect, the invention is directed to an electronic jump rope having a first handle, a second handle, a flexible element connected between the first and second handles, a first switch disposed in the first handle, a second switch operable in a first position and in a second position, the second switch disposed in the first handle, a speaker disposed in the first handle and a sound generator operatively coupled to the first and second switches and the speaker, the sound generator including a processor, a memory and an input/output circuit disposed in the first handle, the sound generator being programmed to cause the speaker to play a beat track at a first playback speed when the first switch is actuated and being programmed to change the first playback speed to a second playback speed when the second switch is actuated in one of the first and second positions, the first and second playback speeds being independent of a rate at which the first and second handles are moved.
In a fourth aspect, the invention is directed to an electronic jump rope having a first handle, a second handle, a flexible element connected between the first and second handles, a first switch disposed in one of the first and second handles, second switch disposed in one of the first and second handles, a speaker disposed in one of the first and second handles and a sound generator operatively coupled to the first and second switches and the speaker, the sound generator including a memory, a processor and an input/output circuit disposed in one of the first and second handles, the sound generator being programmed to cause the speaker to play a musical beat track when the first switch is actuated and programmed to cause the speaker to substitute a sound segment for a portion of the musical beat track when the second switch is actuated.
In a fifth aspect, the invention is directed to a method of using an electronic jump rope having a first handle, a second handle, a flexible element connected between the first and second handles, a first switch, a second switch, a speaker and a sound generator that is capable of causing a beat track and a sound segment to be played. The method includes the steps of a) holding the first handle in a first hand of a user, b) holding the second handle in a second hand of the user, c) jumping rope by repeatedly moving the first and second handles to cause the flexible element to swing around the user about an axis formed between the first and second handles and repeatedly jumping over the flexible member as the flexible member approaches the feet of the user, d) during the step c), actuating the first switch to cause a beat track to be played by the speaker and e) during the step c), actuating the second switch to the first position to cause a first sound segment to be played by the speaker.
The features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description of which is provided below.